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BRETT BARROUQUERE

LOUISVILLE, Ky. | A group of eight current and former employees of United Parcel Service in Kentucky have sued the company saying they faced racial discrimination, poor treatment based on race and retaliation after they complained.

The men also contend an effigy of a black UPS employee hung from the ceiling outside the manager's office for four days.

The suit, filed Friday in Fayette County Circuit Court in Lexington, names three managers and the company as defendants.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. | A federal judge on Thursday signed an order directing officials in Kentucky to immediately recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states and countries.

U.S. District Judge John G. Heyburn II issued a final order throwing out part of the state's ban on gay marriages. It makes official his Feb. 12 ruling that Kentucky's ban on same-sex marriages treated "gay and lesbian persons differently in a way that demeans them."

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky.— The family of a Fort Campbell-based combat medic killed in combat in Afghanistan is set to receive a Silver Star on his behalf on Friday.

The U.S. Army awarded the honor to 25-year-old Spc. Shannon Chihuahua of Thomasville, Ga., who died Nov. 12, 2010, during an attack in Kunar province in eastern Afghanistan. The Army says Chihuahua placed his own safety second to that of his fellow soldiers as insurgents fired small arms and rocket-propelled grenades.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Even as the Army faces shrinking budgets, an audit shows it paid out $16 million in paychecks over a 2 ½-year period to soldiers designated as AWOL or as deserters, the second time since 2006 the military has been dinged for the error.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Southern Baptist Convention, which provides the largest share of active-duty military chaplains, has barred members from taking part in weddings, counseling sessions and couples retreats for same-sex couples.

The North American Mission Board, an arm of the Nashville, Tenn.-based SBC, also prohibits chaplains from participating in any services that would appear to endorse or accept same-sex unions.

The group issued the decision in the wake of the U.S. Department of Defense recognizing same-sex marriages and extending benefits to gay spouses.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — After backlash from customers, the producer of Maker's Mark bourbon is reversing a decision to cut the amount of alcohol in bottles of its famous whiskey.

Rob Samuels, Maker's Mark's chief operating officer, said Sunday that it is restoring the alcohol volume of its product to its historic level of 45 percent, or 90 proof. Last week, it said it was lowering the amount to 42 percent, or 84 proof, because of a supply shortage.

"We've been tremendously humbled over the last week or so," Samuels, grandson of the brand's founder, said of customers' reactions.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A Kentucky man lost his bid Friday to force a doctor to pay damages for removing a cancer-riddled section of his penis during what was scheduled to be a simple circumcision.

The Kentucky Court of Appeals found that a jury correctly concluded that 66-year-old Phillip Seaton of Waddy consented to allow Dr. John Patterson to perform any procedure deemed necessary during the Oct. 19, 2007, surgery.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A judge has sentenced two teenage boys to community service and sex offender treatment as part of a plea deal in a sexual assault case where the victim publicized their names on Twitter.

Savannah Dietrich posted the boys' names on Twitter because she was frustrated with the initial plea deal in June. She did so despite a judge's order not to talk about the case.